downpour / mileven au.

nineteen.

CHAPTER NINETEEN;
LOVED WASTED.

as spring break grew closer and closer, so did midterms. in preparation for the dreaded week of tests, the group devised a thrusday night study session at el and will's house. luckily, joyce and hopper had taken a midweek trip to new york to visit jonathan, leaving the two siblings with an empty house.

seeing this as an opportunity, will invited christopher to get to know his friends better. he never explicitly shared the status of his relationship to the tall dirty blonde with his friends, but they all had their theories -- and they were all, of course, supportive and happy for will.

especially his enthusiastic sister, who tried to force feed the poor boy her homemade brownies. will laughed at her. "come on, ellie, he's eaten like three already. let him be. plus, we need to study," he reminded from the end of the dining table. usually, they would study in the kitchen, but the eight of them didn't fit at the table for six.

she conceded with an embarrassed smile, "right, sorry." she stiffened when dean released a chuckle and wrapped his arm around his girlfriend. "so, what are we reviewing now?"

"chemistry," max replied with a scowl. she shared el's hatred for the subject.

remembering their tutor sessions, el's eyes trickled across the table to mike who appeared completely zoned out. she observed the way his pencil moved anxiously between his fingers and how he subconsciously gnawed on the inside of his cheek. his dark eyes were cast down at the table, but not on his notes.

she frowned, figuring that whatever thoughts were invading his mind were taking some sort of toll on him. he was always calm and collected, cool with whatever life threw with him -- at least, that's what his exterior always portrayed. it was something el always resented him for, but this anxious version of him was even more unsettling. what could possibly have mike wheeler so on edge?

"babe?" dean beckoned from beside her, stealing her gaze from the raven-haired boy.

she blinked away her thoughts, "oh, huh?"

"you alright?" he asked, worriedly.

she swallowed the lump in her throat before nodding. "yeah, i'm good. just zoned out for a second, i guess," she lied with a light laugh.

the friends snacked on el's brownies and covered their chemistry lessons, dustin often swearing that he 'totally knew that' each time he would get a compound wrong. el's eyes kept accidentally drifting to mike, hoping to see him back to normal and laughing along at dustin's lack on knowledge in chemistry, but he remained disconnected from them all.

"okay, chemistry is done. now, english," lucas announced, switching his chemistry folder for his english folder.

dustin groaned. "how do you even study for english? you literally just read a passage and write what you think. you can't study for that! so, i think we need a study break. you know, give the chemistry information some time to implant itself into our brains before we move on to another subject," he explained, his lisp extra prominent on the words 'chemistry' and 'itself.'

max rolled her eyes. "oh, please. you just want to go raid their fridge for chocolate pudding."

el giggled, "it's on the top shelf."

"actually, i'll go get it," will volunteered. "i'll go get more snacks for everyone. christopher, you mind helping me?" he quipped with a smile.

christopher nodded, "of course." the two boys exited the room, walking rather close together.

max chirped, "awe, they're so cute." lucas frowned at the compliment on their appearances. noticing his reaction, the ginger chuckled, "i meant together, stupid. they're cute together."